La Luna - His Time || Bruno Madrigal Fanfic || Book Two

Through The Eyes Of A Child

Bruno's POV

A soothing heartbeat thumped atop my chest, coming from the child spread over me. It was playing the rhythm of my own heart with every beat of his. His hands were tucked in under my shirt, stealing some of my warmth that Luna usually called dibs on. Teo stirred under me, nudging Benji with his foot, getting a half awake swipe in response. I smiled down at them feeling so honored to be their soft place to fall. Even if that meant less sleep, I'd take this over a siesta any day. Luna's arm reached for me next to her, as it always does. Always checking to see if I'm there. It broke my heart to think about how I only added to her bad habit, that likely only stemmed from not having me at all for ten years. I can't ever leave them again, I sighed. It wasn't easy but I came back with a plan at least. Luna's fingers searched my shirt til it felt the skin of my neck. I tried not to chuckle at the ridiculous sight around me. Every single one of them had a hand on me. It reminded me of our mural and what it stood for. "Mi rey... go to sleep...", her palm gently slapped my cheek. Her eyes were still shut as the dim morning rays began to creep up our home from the backdoors. I took her hand in mine and kissed where her ring sat. "Shhh.. you sleep." Her body relaxed as she rolled over to warm her back against me. What would they do if I wasn't their personal heating pad? I smiled brighter watching her wiggle in with the tiniest amount of skin from her stomach showing from her shirt. She felt him, our Diego... When do I get to feel him? I made a mental note to ask María later. Time was ticking away for us and I desperately needed to get up from our mess of limbs and put my plan into action.

Just five more minutes, I told myself, closing my eyes. My mind wouldn't stop though as it wrote a verse to itself for Mateo's journal.

'I wanna bathe with you in the sea
I want to live like this forever
Until the sky falls down on me'

Okay time to get up, I told myself, groaning trying to move under them. "Five more minutes....", all three of them sang together in their sleepy tones, making me laugh.

"You guys stay..", I shuffled their bodies, slipping out. Another chorus of complaints came from them. "So no perico for you three then? Okay...", I grinned. The sound of gasps and muffled happy squeals answered back. I thought so, I shook my head smiling.

I tiptoed out the room and down the hallway, stopping at Chaina's door. This has to work, I told myself. We can both be brave. Taking a deep breath I opened her door and stepped in, shutting it behind me. The room still wasn't very decorated since we barely threw it together the day after she arrived. Whether Chaina ends up staying with us or not was a question I had been asking myself. She would have to go back to her time but I wondered who she would live with once back, knowing she had no family of her own left. It would have hurt more to think about but seeing how well Benji and Diego turned out, growing up in Luna's care, I had faith that whatever future awaited Chaina she'd be loved by someone. Our Encanto would be her home. That wasn't even a question.

She slept peacefully curled up to her pillow. "Hey muñeca..", I sat down beside her, pushing her braid aside. Her eyes fluttered open, peering around and meeting mine. They looked so much like her mother's. Actually everything about her was like her mother. Thank heavens for that, I thought. "Can we talk?", I tried to be as gentle as possible with my tone. This would be a difficult conversation for both of us. Chaina sat herself up, rubbing her eyes and placed a delicate hand on my leg. How do I do this? My stomach twisted trying to find the right words. There were none.

"I know....", The only thing I could get out. Her hand didn't waiver from it's spot on my leg. She was a tough niña. Maybe the only good thing she had gotten from Emiliano. A slight smile graced her lips as if attempting to comfort me. I sighed, "It's not your fault. You know that, right?" Her head dropped. She really felt she had caused all of this, living with her pain quietly. My hand touched hers, "None of this is cause of you muñeca. Some people are just...", I trailed off. Emiliano was still her father, regardless of how rotten he was. I needed to choose my words carefully. "He doesn't deserve to have such a sweet niña like you. And you know that your mamá will always be with you." This didn't seem to phase her for some reason. She smiled brightly when I mentioned her mother.